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<h1>Wood Selection</h1>

<p>The different components of the guitar require different timbers.</p>

<h2>Soundoard</h2>

<p>For the top Softwood is best suited. It must be as lightweight and stiff as possible. Vertical grain lines (quartersawn) is mandatory. Sometimes a laminated (double-top) construction is employed to achieve the design goals. I heard about an acoustic bass, that used two sheets of spruce veneer, combined with a Balsa core. Sometimes synthetic materials are used for the core, such as Nomex. The blanks should "ring" when tapped, not thud.</p>

<h2>Struts</h2>

<p>Softwood. Especially the soundboard strutting should be as lightweight and stiff as possible. Artificial materials, such as carbon fibers and compound constructions, are slowly beeing accepted. Grain lines should go as vertical as possible. If you can't get perfectly quartersawn material, select some good stock material with minimum grain runout, and split it along its natural grain lines. Then resaw it to obtain 6 &times; 6 mm bars with perfectly vertical grain lines.</p>

<p>Another idea: Laminate light softwood with layers of carbon fibers. Such a compound material may allow to reduce the width of struts and bars significantly. Currently, I have no exeperinces, neither which wood to try, nor which dimensions to start with. How about the extrem lightweight Balsa?</p>

<p>A natural width limit is given by the minimum required glue surface: If the struts and bars are too small, the glue joint might split, or worse, tear out wood firbers from the top. To address this, the struts may have to be shaped in a bell curve, somehow. I guess that is not an easy task&hellip;</p>

<h2>Back and Sides</h2>

<p>Hardwood is used nearly exclusivly. The wood should be hard and dense, and it should clearly ring when tapped. Brazilian Rosewood is known best for this purpose. Usually quartersawn, but often sawn tangentially for visual effects.</p>

<h2>Linings</h2>

<p>Softwood, flexible. Spare from sides can be used.</p>

<h2>Bindings, Purflings</h2>

<p>Flexible, close-grained, colorful. Bindings protect the edges. Purflings prevent cracks from protruding into the soundboard, and add visual effects. Must be close grained and non-porous, otherwise dark sanding dust will collect in the pores and disturb the clarity of patterns, results will be scruffy.They should be flexible enough to fit the curved body. Bindings in the waist area might have to be head-bended before installation.</p>

<p>Make sure that the wood colors do not bleed into the finish, otherwise light-colored adjacent woods will be stained. Famous example is Padouk <a class="sref" href="../appx/references.htm#middleton">[Middleton, p. 24]</a>. Test with solvent and a clean, white chloth. If it bleeds out, don't use it.</p>

<h2>Neck</h2>

<p>Hardwood. Most oft used timbers are Mahogany and Cedrela. Certain timbers are known to slightly dampen the tone.</p>

<h2>Fingerboard</h2>

<p>Hardwood. Should be close-grained to achieve a smooth surface. No laquer protection should be required. Must be very dense and hard to resist the wear from strings and fingernail attacks.</p>

<h2>Relation Table</h2>

<p>The following tables gives an overview of wood species, and their use in construction.</p>

<table id="Table1" class="boxborders" style="border-collapse: collapse;">
<thead><tr>
	<th><div class="rot-270"><div>Species</div></div></th>
	<td><div class="rot-270"><div>Solid Body</div></div></td>
	<td><div class="rot-270"><div>Back</div></div></td>
	<td><div class="rot-270"><div>Sides</div></div></td>
	<td><div class="rot-270"><div>Top</div></div></td>
	<td><div class="rot-270"><div>Linings</div></div></td>
	<td><div class="rot-270"><div>Neck</div></div></td>
	<td><div class="rot-270"><div>Fretboard</div></div></td>
	<td><div class="rot-270"><div>Bridge</div></div></td>
	<td><div class="rot-270"><div>Bracing</div></div></td>
	<td><div class="rot-270"><div>Traverse Bar</div></div></td>
	<td><div class="rot-270"><div>Back center strip</div></div></td>
</tr>
</thead><tbody>
<tr>
	<th><a href="wood.htm#afb-blackwood">Australiand Fiddleback Blackwood</a></th>
	<td></td>			<!-- solid body -->
	<td>x</td>		<!-- back -->
	<td>x</td>		<!-- sides -->
	<td></td>			<!-- top -->
	<td></td>			<!-- linings -->
	<td></td>			<!-- neck -->
	<td></td>			<!-- fretboard -->
	<td></td>			<!-- bridge -->
	<td></td>			<!-- bracing -->
	<td></td>			<!-- traverse bar -->
	<td></td>			<!-- back center strip -->
</tr><tr>
	<th><a href="wood.htm#ebony">Ebony</a></th>
	<td></td>		<!-- solid body -->
	<td></td>		<!-- back -->
	<td></td>		<!-- sides -->
	<td></td>		<!-- top -->
	<td></td>		<!-- linings -->
	<td></td>		<!-- neck -->
	<td>x</td>	<!-- fretboard -->
	<td></td>		<!-- bridge -->
	<td></td>		<!-- bracing -->
	<td></td>		<!-- traverse bar -->
	<td></td>		<!-- back center strip -->
</tr><tr>
	<th><a href="wood.htm#eurospruce">European Spruce</a></th>
	<td></td>		<!-- solid body -->
	<td></td>		<!-- back -->
	<td></td>		<!-- sides -->
	<td>x</td>	<!-- top -->
	<td></td>		<!-- linings -->
	<td></td>		<!-- neck -->
	<td></td>		<!-- fretboard -->
	<td></td>		<!-- bridge -->
	<td></td>		<!-- bracing -->
	<td></td>		<!-- traverse bar -->
	<td></td>		<!-- back center strip -->
</tr><tr>
	<th><a href="wood.htm#gidgee">Gidgee</a></th>
	<td></td>		<!-- solid body -->
	<td></td>		<!-- back -->
	<td></td>		<!-- sides -->
	<td></td>		<!-- top -->
	<td></td>		<!-- linings -->
	<td></td>		<!-- neck -->
	<td>x</td>	<!-- fretboard -->
	<td></td>		<!-- bridge -->
	<td></td>		<!-- bracing -->
	<td></td>		<!-- traverse bar -->
	<td></td>		<!-- back center strip -->
</tr><tr>
	<th><a href="wood.htm#lime">Lime</a></th>
	<td></td>		<!-- solid body -->
	<td></td>		<!-- back -->
	<td></td>		<!-- sides -->
	<td></td>		<!-- top -->
	<td>x</td>	<!-- linings -->
	<td></td>		<!-- neck -->
	<td></td>		<!-- fretboard -->
	<td></td>		<!-- bridge -->
	<td></td>		<!-- bracing -->
	<td></td>		<!-- traverse bar -->
	<td></td>		<!-- back center strip -->
</tr><tr>
	<th><a href="wood.htm#mulga">Mulga</a></th>
	<td></td>		<!-- solid body -->
	<td></td>		<!-- back -->
	<td></td>		<!-- sides -->
	<td></td>		<!-- top -->
	<td></td>		<!-- linings -->
	<td></td>		<!-- neck -->
	<td>x</td>	<!-- fretboard -->
	<td></td>		<!-- bridge -->
	<td></td>		<!-- bracing -->
	<td></td>		<!-- traverse bar -->
	<td></td>		<!-- back center strip -->
</tr><tr>
	<th><a href="wood.htm#pine">Pine</a></th>
	<td></td>		<!-- solid body -->
	<td></td>		<!-- back -->
	<td></td>		<!-- sides -->
	<td></td>		<!-- top -->
	<td>x</td>	<!-- linings -->
	<td></td>		<!-- neck -->
	<td></td>		<!-- fretboard -->
	<td></td>		<!-- bridge -->
	<td>x</td>	<!-- bracing -->
	<td></td>		<!-- traverse bar -->
	<td></td>		<!-- back center strip -->
</tr><tr>
	<th><a href="wood.htm#willow">Willow</a></th>
	<td></td>		<!-- solid body -->
	<td></td>		<!-- back -->
	<td></td>		<!-- sides -->
	<td></td>		<!-- top -->
	<td>x</td>	<!-- linings -->
	<td></td>		<!-- neck -->
	<td></td>		<!-- fretboard -->
	<td></td>		<!-- bridge -->
	<td></td>		<!-- bracing -->
	<td></td>		<!-- traverse bar -->
	<td></td>		<!-- back center strip -->
</tr></tbody></table>

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